They are my Little Bear, my best-kept secret, and Crown Prince of the Shoulder Monkeys… my Tiny Minya, Destructriss of Fluffy Toys… my Sir Earl Gray— Chancellor of the Tea Party! And Runtle, short for Runtlestiltskin (thank my brother), the babiest of the babies!

Cry. Is not a word that applies.
This is different.

Tears flow out of my face without stopping… it is a tsunami of sadness.

I cry because I cannot be sure that everysingleday they will be entirely covered with kisses from inside their silky little ears, down to the fluffy spots between their tiny toes.

I cry because my Little Bear loves to get right up into your shoulder AS CLOSE AS HE CAN and eat your hair while purring directly into your ear and kneading his tiny baby claws into your face… and I cannot be sure that someone else will UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE.

Yes, you very well MIGHT lose an eye; THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE TO HOLD STILL.

I soaked the front of my sweatshirt because I cannot fix this.

I cried because it is all so futile… because no matter how many kittens I foster… I CANNOT HELP THEM ALL.

I cried because until we see that ALL beings deserve love; this will never be a good world for any kitten, any animal, any baby who is born without the privilege to be seen as valuable.

There will still be row after row of babies in veal crates: the dairy industry.
There will still be baby boy chicks ground up alive: the egg industry.
There will still be baby piglets “thumped,” smashing them on the ground by their hind legs.

We call it dinner.

During this meditation on the essential futility of loving animals in a world that does not; Minya charged in and out, destroying things and terrorizing imaginary spots on the wall— jumping three feet in the air because WALL.

WHY IS.
WALL.

DEATH TO.
WALL.

And I will tell you this:
The family who got Minya? They got EXTRA… and it wasn’t extra cuddles.

attacking walls is hard.

I feel like I have cried all the tears for all the animals.
I feel like I have TRIED SO HARD TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
And it has made no difference at all.

It does not just exhaust me.It makes me feel done with life.

I realize that is unexpected… and I AM OKAY WITH THAT… something is happening in my brain: I’m done NOT being honest about who I am.

Pretending that everything is fine is too exhausting and also really stupid and I am finished.

This is who I am.
I cannot handle any of this.

I am tired of pretending otherwise.
Being broken, alone, is too hard.

Instead, I am going to be broken as loudly as I can… it’s literally ALL I have to offer this world, so its time I quit shying away from it and just get started.

JOIN ME!!!!!!!!
I TOTALLY KNOW HOW TO PARTY!!!

IF YOU LOVE KITTENS…WHY NOT LOVE BABY COWS TOO?

They come in different colors!
They love their mama!
They are adorable and hilarious!

They are kind.
And gentle.
And we FORCE them to suffer.

Just like humans, cows must be pregnant to produce breastmilk… and just like humans, cows carry their babies for nine months.

On a dairy farm, newborn babies are taken from their mothers immediately… so that humans can drink their mother’s breastmilk.

If the baby is a girl, she becomes a breastmilk factory.
If the baby is a boy, he becomes veal.

They will never see their mother again.

DAIRY = VEAL

WE CAN CHANGE THIS!

All we have to do is OPEN OUR HEART.

THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN!

Casein, which makes up 87% of the protein in cow’s breastmilk, is the most significant carcinogen we consume… Casein promotes all stages of the cancer process. — Dr. Colin T. Campbell

EVERY SINGLE YEAR, WE LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW EATING ANIMALS = CANCER.

BRAND NEW science now shows us that Bovine Leukemia Virus causes breast cancer… a common virus of cattle globally; for decades it was believed to NOT impact humans… spoiler-alert: whoops!

do you know how much we spend treating breast cancer?do you know how much the meat and dairy industry spends on lobbying?do these numbers matter?

I say yes.

Here is an outtake of a longer video that gives an overview of how the USDA got into the business of selling us a carcinogen.

Have you ever asked yourself:Why are humans the only animal to consume breastmilk after infancy?Why are humans the only species in the entire animal kingdom to drink another species’ breastmilk?Who decided that breastmilk intended to turn a 70 lb newborn calf into a 1,500 lb cow… is good for humans?

Is the answer to all of those questions: because our government got involved in the dairy industry?

OH… WHO CARES!!We love cheese!

BUT WHY? WHY DO WE LOVE CHEESE SO MUCH?There’s actually an answer to this!

Cheese is highly-concentrated breastmilk… and condensing and concentrating that milk also concentrates the hormones that make nursing feel good to a baby.

In the human brain, these hormones stimulate the same receptors as heroin and morphine; regardless of whether that breastmilk comes from a human, a cow, a goat, etc.

“Digesting breastmilk creates casomorphins, which attach to the brain’s opiate receptors; causing a calming effect in much the same way heroin and morphine do.”
— Dr. Neal Barnard, professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Does it matter that the links between dairy consumption and cancer are evidence-based?

Does it matter that science tells us that other species’ breastmilk is bad for us… UNLESS that “science” is conducted by Dannon or funded by the milk-industry?

Rather than try to edit all the science into one paragraph, I’ll send you to read this excellent and thorough article at Mother Jones.

Dr. Willett (Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School) found that men who drank two or more glasses of milk a day were twice as likely to develop advanced prostate cancer as those who drank no milk.

Women who drank two and a half or more glasses of milk a day had a higher fracture risk than their counterparts who drank less than one glass a day.

Studies showed a connection between dairy consumption and breast cancer; researchers theorized that the high levels of hormones in dairy foods—specifically estrogen, progesterone, and an insulin-like compound known as IGF-1—may speed the growth of tumors. — The Scary New Science That Shows Milk Is Bad For You

Is it possible that politics and capitalism dictate the American food system; creating a market that is completely destructive to public health and the environment; and yet embraced because societal norms tell us that WE LOVE CHEESE! (AND BACON!)

Is it possible… THAT WE ARE NOT COWS??

Is it possible that what we ate to survive winter in Kansas in 1823, is the dietary equivalent of living in a cave without wifi? I mean, survival is awesome! But why are we still making choices to feed ourselves like we are only going to live to be 42?

Is that a biological development? A cultural development? Or a development based on the PROFITABLY OF DAIRY CORPORATIONS?

Lobbying by the $50 billion dairy industry clouds policy on nutrition.— Food Politics, Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University.

Does it matter that the way we feed ourselves requires that children in underprivileged countries go hungry?

82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries. — Dr. Richard Oppenlander

Does it matter that our planet’s resources are finite and that we NEED THEM TO SURVIVE… and yet allow meat and dairy industries to exploit, pollute, and destroy the planet we live on!

Does it matter that animal agriculture is the leading cause of rainforest destruction… 70% of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing. — United Nations, FAO

Does it matter that while California experienced a drought of alarming proportions… the industry that exports CA-grown alfalfa to China’s growing dairy industry was exempt from water regulations? Video below is from National Geographic.

Read The China Study: learn about the factory-farming industry’s attempts to brainwash everyone in America into thinking they will die at any moment from a protein deficiency! Like this pitiful weakling:USA’s Olympian record-holding weightlifter who is vegan… Farris set an American weightlifting record by lifting 800 pounds at the 2016 Olympic Trials… SAD!

Is it possible that our collective insanity surrounding the cultural obsession with PROTEIN… is BAD FOR US? Do any of those guys slamming down shakes, bars, supplements even know that TOO MUCH PROTEIN IS BAD or did Men’s Fitness magazine fail to mention that because their job is to sell magazines and those magazines are funding by the advertising dollars from protein supplement manufacturers?

Some individuals, especially teen boys and adult men, also need to reduce overall intake of protein foods by decreasing intakes of meats, poultry, and eggs.

Overall, our human and animal studies indicate that a low protein diet is likely to be useful for the prevention of cancer, overall mortality, and possibly diabetes. — health.gov/dietaryguidelines

Did you know that one of the mysteries of human breast milk is why the protein content is so low?Did you know that cows’ milk has 35 grams of protein per liter, while human breast milk has only 9 grams of protein per liter?

Did you know that the ratio of whey and casein proteins in human breast milk range from 80/20 – 60/40 (as breast milk progresses from colostrum to mature milk,) whereas cow milk is completely opposite at a 20/80 ratio.

The dairy industry has long promoted the myth that milk and milk products promote increased bone health—but the opposite is true. The evidence is now abundantly convincing that higher consumption of dairy is associated with higher rates of bone fracture and osteoporosis, according to Yale and Harvard University research groups.

— Dr. Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr. P.H., is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

I believe that babies belong with their mothers. I believe that forcing an animal to birth baby after baby… only to have those babies taken from her so that the dairy industry can sell us cancer in the form of cheese and ice cream is a grotesque mockery of nature and motherhood and our own humanity.

And I have one more question:

If we can live healthier,
MORE COMPASSIONATE lives
without dairy…
WHY WOULDN’T WE?

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO THE FORGOTTEN MOTHERS… SPECIFICALLY, THIS ONE.

She arrived at the slaughterhouse, unable to walk off the truck.
Please read her story.

This mother spent her life pregnant, but she never knew any of her children. Her sons became veal. Her daughters suffered her same fate so that humans could harvest her breastmilk.

When her production dwindled with age, she was sent to slaughter. She was injured in transport, and wasn’t able to walk off the truck… the slaughterhouse workers used their electric prods in her ear to try to get her out of the truck, then beat and kicked her in the face, ribs, and back, but still she didn’t move.

They tied a rope around her neck, tied the other end to a post in the ground, and drove the truck away. She was dragged along the floor of the truck and fell to the ground, shattering her legs and pelvis.

She remained like that from 8am until 7:30pm. For the first 3hours, she lay in the hot sun crying. When she urinated or defecated, she used her front legs to drag herself along the gravel roadway to a clean spot. She tried to crawl to a shaded area but couldn’t move far enough.

The employees didn’t allow her any water; the only water she received was given to her by Jess Pierce, a local animal lover who had been contacted by a woman who witnessed the incident. After receiving no cooperation from stockyard workers, she called the Kenton County Police. A police officer arrived but was instructed to do nothing.

In the afternoon, the slaughterhouse manager informed Jess that he had permission from the insurance company to kill the cow but wouldn’t do it until Jessie left. Although doubtful that he would keep his word, Jess left at 3pm. She returned at 4:30pm and found the stockyard deserted. Three dogs were attacking the cow, who was still alive. She had suffered a number of bite wounds, and her water had been removed.

Jess contacted the police again. 4 officers arrived at 5:30pm, and a State trooper wanted to shoot the cow but was told that a vet should kill her. The 2 veterinarians at the facility would not euthanize her, claiming that in order to preserve the value of the meat, she could not be destroyed.

The butcher arrived at 7:30 p.m. and shot the cow. Her body was purchased for $307.50.

I eat neither meat, nor dairy and I am about 10 lbs short of obese on the BMI charts. I also play squash 3-4 times a week, and while much of my weight is heavy muscle, I assure you, I am not wasting away.

A plant based diet can certainly be a healthy one, and none of us deserve to have our health judged by appearance alone.

I’m an American Buddhist, so a convert, so I read and listen to dharma talks. Since the. fundamental teaching of Buddhism is compassion, compassion fatigue gets discussed. We are told to understand our place in karma, which includes how small our effort is but how each action ripples out into the universe forever. We can never know the results of our action and we should try to disregard those thoughts, as they are to some extent bound up with our self-regard.

Wow. What a judgmental, illogical, and frankly vile comment you have made, Katherine. When Victoria posts a picture of herself looking healthy and comfortable on the beach, what snide little personal attack will you then make in a sad attempt to invalidate her fact-based overview of the dairy industry and the relationship between cow’s milk and human nutrition? The logical fallacy of ad hominem is often used when a person feels threatened by an argument but can’t actually counter the evidence presented. If this post made you feel threatened about your comfortable consumption of dairy, then good; it should.

I recently lost my two little flufflemunchkins to adoption as well, and am missing their furry little faces every day. My babies! It’s so hard. But rewarding. But hard. They are so special and I’m not sure anyone else can adequately understand how special they are! At least they were adopted together, and that’s a solace. It would have broken my heart to split them up.

I’m with you, keep up the good writing and good deeds. Vegan for 40 years come April, and I’m neither thin nor cold. I find some comfort in finding vegans all over the place. Best thing about the web for me xxx

Kitteh and I met over tragically sad circumstances. There was a death in the family, and suddenly a kitten was in need of an immediate home, as the extended family did not have keys to the home of the deceased. In the heat of the moment, my dear husband (Also Paul, but not your Paul) blurted that we would take the kitten home. We were all feeling devastated and helpless at the moment and at least it was SOMETHING we could do to “help.”

Even though Paul and I are both allergic to cats. Sometimes this means that we can pop a Benedryl and get on with our lives…he was brave, selfless and noble, and I was completely on board with the decision.

I found Kitteh, lovingly wrapped her in a towel (no carrier could be found) and carefully drove her home.
I set up a kitty adventureland in the basement with lots of cozy, towel and blanket lined boxes for her to explore, exciting paper bags, shelves, dusty windowsills, sunbeams, EVERYTHING a kitty could want.

She found her litter box like an old pro. She nibbled her kitty food buffet and made herself at home.

She also desperately bonded with me. Just like that we were soulmates. She rubbed against my legs and forced-petted herself against my hands.

She was SO BRAVE when I introduced her to the GIANT RED MONSTER BEAST (Scarlett, out 12-year old Irish Setter.) They just looked at each other, then at me, then at each other, and so on, until I assigned each of them their respective “corners.”

Kitteh decided that her corner would be my lap. We took pictures, made movies, posted all over social media, declared our undying love for each other, and we had one blissful evening together…
You read that right…ONE EVENING.

The next day I was covered in hives, my eyes glued shut and filled with sand. Never have I ever had a reaction like this to a cat. She hadn’t even slept with me. She hadn’t even so much as walked up the stairs! HOW COULD THIS BE OUR FATE???!!!

I begged to keep her anyway. I would wear hats with face veils, it would become my new look! I’d make it a trend! LOVE CONQUERS ALL, RIGHT?

Alas, Paul, who seemed to think he was my soulmate, not Kitteh, insisted she needed a different home.

This story ended well for Kitteh. Apparently a friend of her deceased former owner had been plotting to kidnap her since they first met. She was at my house within seconds, swept Kitteh into her arms and never looked back…but Kitteh did. Can cats cry? I am sure I saw a tiny tear in her itty bitty eye as we said our goodbyes.

In regard to cows, if they are not used for meat, milk or cheese, why would people raise them? There are very few cows in the US that are native, wild animals. I’m guessing that you would doom the whole species if you manage to convince people not to eat or otherwise utilize cows for food. Or leather.

Livestock animals have been selectively bred and modified by humans to be profitable. They suffer all kinds of health problems because they are bred to be much bigger than their natural ancestors. We pump them full of antibiotics and growth hormones, as VEB linked to above! Chickens cannot walk! They cannot support their own weight! Continuing to breed them, knowing they will suffer health problems due to the manner of their selective breeding, how is this valuable?

But if we really want to keep pigs, chickens, cows and the animals we eat alive, we can conserve them in the same way endangered species are, i.e. not by slitting their throats. There are many animal sanctuaries that exist today where farmed animals are rescued and live their entire lives, so they wouldn’t go extinct.

Bringing any animal into existence for the purpose of abusing them and harming them is not justified. If you breed a dog for dogfighting, if you breed bulls for bullfighting, the harm inflicted on them is never justified.

The animals that are being used and killed do not care about why they were bred. Would you choose to be born in a torture chamber, knowing your entire life would be spent there? I would not.

You gave those fur babies the best start possible and gently introduced them to civilized life. They will do just fine. I think of the abandoned cats and feral cats on this little Island off coastal Georgia where I live and I marvel how some kitties are so loved, and some are left to try to survive on their own…so sad for hte homeless.. ANd talk about separating baby cows from their Mothers???? Let every man, woman and child who eats a hamburger spend a day on a feed lot and work a slaughter house. Let’s see if they can get another bloody mouthful of cow flesh swallowed, ever again….

Thank you for speaking about this! I’ve been a vegetarian for over 20 years because I love animals and I’ve recently been switching to being vegan for that same reason. There is protein in oats, legumes, and veggies, people! I work out a lot and get plenty of balanced protein from my foods. Thanks again and try not to cry anymore.

“There will still be row after row of babies in veal crates: the dairy industry.
There will still be baby boy chicks ground up alive: the egg industry.
There will still be baby piglets “thumped,” smashing them on the ground by their hind legs.”

And millions of babies ripped from their mothers wombs, ground up and thrown out in the trash.
We call it choice.

Grieve for the animals, but don’t let it become a hypocritical cover for our lack of grief over the other.

amen yes you are so right! and what about the ivf babies. are you familiar with the movement to ban natural pregnancy until we get all the extra IVF babies into open wombs! abortion mostly kills blastocysts but ivf is actual embryos being trahsed.

No, but I am shocked how many people can fall into one camp while totally avoiding the other. If this post causes an emotional outcry from you, but abortion doesn’t, then maybe it’s an indication to check the wiring.

Also, I have to wonder, if the pigs, cows, and chickens were assenting to the callous extermination of their young, or even the second party profiting of their parts…would we care then? Or would that make it okay?

Thank you for saying this. I’ve certainly been thinking it. I am a strong believer in the humane treatment of animals, but wonder when those who vociferously defend animals make no mention of the tens of millions of humans who have been killed in the womb, often suffering unimaginable pain during the process.

I never comment, and usually enjoy your over the top life descriptions. I also admire your passion for something you believe in strongly. However, given the current tragedy of children dying in what should be the safety of their schools, those parents are the ones whose lives are horrible. Just saying.

It is possible to be passionate about more than one thing at a time. Like VEB, I’m passionate about ending animal suffering. I’m also passionate about protecting the earth, preventing unwanted pregnancies, gun control, and voting rights, but I don’t typically write or talk or even think about them all at once–it would be too overwhelming.

To compare eating animals and their milk to abortion is totally a non sequitur. Forcing an animal to reproduce for our benefit would be the same as forcing me to keep my unborn child for your benefit (because abortion makes you unhappy).

I just couldn’t help but notice that this article could just as easily be read about baby humans as much as it is about baby cows. But that the approved emotional response for one is grief, while the other scoffing, contempt, and indignation. But if the dairy industry can make you cry, and abortion can’t, then perhaps we are all less human than we thought. And, if that is indeed the road we’re on, how can that work out well for anyone, animal or human?

Thank you so very much for this very honest and heartfelt article! I too was horrified and sickened when I learned about the awful suffering animals go through just so people can have their “favorite” foods. I immediately became a vegan and haven’t looked back since. My feeling is if people know this kind of abuse occurs- and just look the other way or try to rationalize it- are condoning the abuse. Don’t even get me started on the genocide commonly called abortion. We live in a very sad world indeed.

Victoria, I have recognised in your writing, for some time, many similarities with my darling daughter. Like you, she is highly talented and gifted; like you, she has a huge social conscience; like you, she has a sometimes scathing wit, is fearless and unafraid to challenge the status quo. I imagine you, like my daughter, are a perfectionist; hard on others but even harder on yourself. With her many gifts, she’s has been given many challenges, including anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. And still she fights on.
As I say to her, please be kind to yourself. Lavish love on your family, pets and causes, but also on yourself. You have a huge capacity to bring about meaningful change through your writing and social media, but you need to stay well to do it. So stay impassioned, Victoria, but also allow forgiveness. You need to go the distance.

Yes, this is excellent advice. I realized a long time ago that I could not save all the animals or children but needed to do my best with those that cross my path, and pray for the rest. We humans have to accept our limitations.

Thank you for all that you do Victoria . Thank you for taking the time to foster kittens … and for taking the time to pass on information that EVERYONE needs to know about farm animals and food production . I am with you ….all the way . You have given your foster kittens the chance to have a happy , healthy life , filled with love … with a lifelong return policy ! Nothing could be better than that ! I hope that your wonderful, kind heart heals very soon .

I’m sorry about your kitties. You made a big sacrifice to let them go. I’m guessing so that you could save more.

On the topic of veganism- I first read about factory farming when I was in high school. My sister brought home some pamphlets from college. Back then, the Internet is not what it was, so I wrote to local and national organizations for more information, and it felt like I was entering some strange world.

Then I read “Diet for a New America” by the heir of the Robbins portion of Baskin-Robbins. He described how veganism would help everyone, as you’ve outlined. The animals themselves, of course, but human animals, too. And, the Earth. Win, win, win.

When I finished the book, I asked myself if there was one good reason, beyond taste (I was a devoted fan of meat), to not become a vegan. I couldn’t think of one, and embarked on a brief journey into the vegan world.

But I was ill-prepared and had no support. I remember making baked tofu wrapped in seaweed from a macrobiotic cookbook, with nothing but a little soy sauce, and that was no bueno. But what really sealed the deal for me is that it became very isolating. I made the compromise to become a vegetarian, and have been for over 25 years, but I don’t think it’s all that much better than being a meat-eater.

Times have changed, and there are so many resources now to make a plant-based diet delicious and healthy. I have still dragged my feet to make the switch. I signed up for a year’s plan at https://www.getmealplans.com/ to simplify things, but have yet to make a recipe, so I can’t speak to whether or not they taste good! But they do promise to be easy!

Thank you for the call to action. While I am a firm believer in accepting others’ choices in the food department and don’t attempt to convert people, I have to do my personal best to make the world a better place. I think I am ready for the next step.

That being said, my main issue with using animals for food is their treatment. And while I won’t eat animals, I believe that if we want to use them for food, let’s do it the right way. Let’s cut down on our dependence, for one. This would have a tremendous impact on the health of humans, other animals, and the Earth. Let’s allow animals to live without inflicting physical and emotional pain on them for our benefit. This means a quality life when alive, and a swift, humane end.